Buckle



E. W. RUTHERFORD.

BUCKLE. APPLICATION FILED .IAN.10,1919. RENEWED JUNE 5,1920.

1,346,979, Patented July 20, 1920.

"mini-Ill" %1 hit alto 014a UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EUGENE W. RUTHERFORD, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE SHOEHARDWARE COMPANY, A CORPORATICN OF CONNECTICUT.

' BUCKLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 20, 1920.

Application filed January 10, 1919, Serial No. 270,461. Renewed June 5,1920. Serial No. 386,925.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EUoENE WV. RUTHER- rom), a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of New Haven, county of New retain the same.

There have heretofore been used upon boots, shoes, arctics, and variousother articles, buckles formed of two stampings of sheet metal, andcomprising a socketed plate member to which is hingedly secured ahook-shaped locking tongue having pintles which seat in the sockets inthe plate member. The plate member of such buckles is customarily formedat one end with three extensions or fingers suitably spaced apart, theouter two extensions being provided with alined sockets which receivethe pintles of the locking tongue. The intermediately disposed extensionacts as a spring and cooperates with a cam surface on the locking tongueto hold the tongue in opened and closed positions. The sockets in thetwo outer extensions are formed by striking up a portion of the metalintermediate the length of the extensions and bending back the ends ofthe extensions to overlie the recesses so formed. It has been found thatthe pintle pins of the locking tongue and the bent over ends of thesocketed extensions frequently break off under the strains encounteredin service destroying the value of the buckle. A further disadvantage ofsuch buckles is the high cost of manufacture in- 'volved in shaping thetwo members to their complicated form.

An object of the present invention, ac-- is represented in theaccompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in

.which similar characters of reference indibuckle with its lockingtongue in closed position. 1

Fig. 2 is a side view of the buckle shown in Fig. 1, the locking tonguebeing shown in closed position in full lines and in open position indotted lines.

- Fig. 3 is a bottom view of the buckle shown in Fig. 1, and

Fig. 4 is a front end view of the construction shown in Fig. 1.

The buckle illustrated in the drawings comprises a flat plate member 10to which is secured a hook-shaped locking tongue 11. Preferably bothparts are stamped from resilient sheet steel, although it is to beunderstood that any suitable kind or grade of sheet metal may beemployed for the purpose.

The plate member 10 is formed at one end with two eyes 12 which afford aconvenient means for attaching the buckle to any desired article; and atthe other end with three spaced extensions or fingers. The two outerextensions 13 are formed with bentover ends 14:, while the intermediateextension 15 is formed with a hook-shaped bend 16 which serves as asocket to hingedly secure the locking tongue to the plate member.

The locking tongue 11 consists of a substantially triangular shapedpiece of metal bent at one end to resemble a hook. The hook end of thetongue is formed with a laterally extending slot 17 to provide a pintlebar 18 adapted to fit in the socket in the intermediate extension. Thetongue is made of sufficient width to provide a cam shoulder 19 on eachside of the slot. When the parts are assembled the cam shoulders fulcrumupon the outer extensions 13 of the plate member, and cooperate with theresilient intermediate extension 15 to hold the tongue in open andclosed positions.

The invention provides a buckle of great durability and simpleconstruction which can be more economically manufactured than any of thebuckles heretofore known.

While I have described one of the preferred embodiments of my invention,it is to be understood that various modifications in form, material andarrangement may be made without departing from the spirit and scope, orsacrificlng any of the advantages of the invention defined in theappended claims. 7

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to protectby Letters Patent is:

1. A buckle comprising a plate with spaced side members between which issustained a resilient member that is bent at its free end, a manipulabletongue provided with a transversely extending elongated opening adjacentone end thereof adapted to receive the bent end of the resilient member,and cooperating means on said plate and tongue for holding the latteryieldingly against the former.

2. A buckle comprising a plate 'with vspaced side members between whichis sustained a resilient member that is bent at 1tsfree end, amanipulable tongue provided with a transversely extendlng elongatedopening adjacent one end thereof adapted to receive the bent end of theresilient member, said tongue having shoulders on its opposite sidesbeyond the elongated opening co6perating with the plate at oppositesides of the resilient member. 7 1

of the resilient member, said tongue having a straight edge adjacentandrparallel with the slot which is adapted to cooperate with the fiatside members of the plate to retain the tongue in either a closed or anopen position. i i

i. A buckle comprising a base member, a

resilient member sustained at one end by the base member and'free atits-other end, a manipulable tongue having a transverse slot adjacentone-ofits ends adapted to receive the free end of the resilient memberand thereby hingedly supported, and means on the tongue adj acent theslot cooperating with the base member to spring the resilient memberwhereby the tongue may be pressed yieldingly toward the basemember ormay be swung away from the same.

Signed at Waterbury, county of New Haven, State of Connecticut, this 2dday of January, 1919. 7 1

EUGENE'W, RUTHERFORD. I

